Italy observed a day of national mourning Saturday as the death toll rose to 290

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From left, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Italian Senate President Pietro Grasso, Italian Lower Chamber President Laura Boldrini and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi attend the funeral service of some of the earthquake victims in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, on Aug. 27, 2016.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella paid a visit on Saturday to Amatrice, a town devastated in the earthquake that hit central Italy this week and the place with the highest death toll.

The visit comes as Italy observes a day of national mourning for the victims of the earthquake. Mattarella will also attend a state funeral in the town of Ascoli Piceno along with Premier Matteo Renzi for some of the victims.

Mattarella arrived by helicopter to the edge of Amatrice and was guided around by the mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, who showed him the extent of the damage. Mattarella also met and thanked rescue workers, who have been working since early Wednesday to save people trapped in rubble and recover the dead.

Due to the vast extent of the damage, the president could survey the town only from the outside, because it is too dangerous to enter the sealed-off town center, a once-picturesque stone town.

Italian Girl, 10, Rescued From Earthquake Rubble

The death rose to 290 after more bodies were recovered overnight from the rubble of Amatrice. With several more people still unaccounted for it was expected that the death toll could rise further.

Overnight, residents of the area were rattled yet again by a series of aftershocks. The strongest, at 4:50 a.m., had a magnitude of 4.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, while the Italian geophysics institute measured it at 4.